Beyond the Book: Bringing Your Characters To Life

Bringing Your Characters to Life

If you’re an author, you hope to create memorable characters who will help your story come alive and captivate your readers.  Most authors get to know their characters inside and out before they even begin a book, but how do they reveal their characters to the reader so that the reader understands the character too? 

First, we learn about characters through their speech.  What do you learn about Fred Emerson in this excerpt from A New Dream?

“Who brought you home?” demanded her father, Fred Emerson. “Where’s your car?”

“Alternator failure. It’s in the parking lot at work. The new manager, Matt McCallum, brought me home.” Violet hugged her mother Beth and her sister Jessie who both had a big pile of beans in front of them.

“You could have called me,” her father insisted.

Violet hung her purse on the coat rack near the door. “I knew you were busy with the garden stuff, Daddy. He offered, and I didn’t see any reason to turn him down.”

Fred snapped a bean with more vigor than necessary. “McCallum acted like a gentleman, I hope. Some of those pro-ball players don’t behave too well.”

Violet frowned. “He was a perfect gentleman, Daddy.”

“Good.” Fred tossed a handful of beans into a dishpan.  “He’d better continue to be. I won’t tolerate anybody messing with my daughters. I don’t know what the world’s coming to these days.”

Right off the bat we know that Fred is an old-fashioned, maybe overly protective father.

We also learn about characters from their appearance.  What do you learn about my bad girl Stacey?  She’s also from A New Dream.

Her style hadn’t changed much since she ran out on him. She still dressed to attract attention, and judging from the expression on several nearby male faces, she hadn’t lost her touch. She was wearing a short skirt, knee boots, and a sweater that was probably half a size too small. She looked as chic, expensive, and sexy as she ever had, but the sultry, come-hither look he’d always loved didn’t do much for him now.

So, Stacey’s an extrovert, sexy, likes men, and probably uses her looks to get what she wants.  We also learn that when the going got tough, Stacey ran out on my hero.

A character’s private thoughts also tell us what he/she is like.  What do you find out about my New Dream hero Matt McCallum?  Matt was a pro-football player who lost his career when he lost a leg in an accident.

He had worked like a dog on that leg, but he still limped, and it felt like knives stabbed him with every step he took. His career was over, and he had lost almost everything he had loved and valued. Yeah, he felt drained.

Nevertheless, he always kept such dark thought to himself. God forbid he should invite anyone’s pity! He’d rather be dead first.

We see that Matt is depressed over the changes in his life.  We also see that he’s a proud man who doesn’t want anyone’s pity.

We also learn about characters from the way others see him and react to him.  In this excerpt, my New Dream hero told my heroine that he won’t leave her porch until she talks to him even though the weather is icy and bitter cold.

Dinnertime came and went, and Matt still sat on the porch.  “I’m going to take him something to eat,” Beth declared. “He has to be starving.”

Violet guessed her mother was right. Matt had once told her that the effort of walking with a prosthesis burned additional calories, but the picture of Stacey etched in her brain hardened her heart. “He isn’t your problem, Mother. Leave him alone.”

Nerves on edge, Violet started to cry, and when she did Beth tackled Fred. “Fred Emerson, you do something right now! I’m not having it on my conscience if that young man freezes to death on my front porch, especially since I believe he’s telling the truth.”

“Mother! I thought you were on my side!”

Fred pounced on her statement like a cat on a catnip mouse.  “I knew it! You’ve always liked him.”

“Well, you do something, and I mean now!”

Don’t you think it says a lot about Matt’s character that my heroine’s mother believes he’s innocent of betraying her with another woman? 

A character’s actions will reveal a lot about them too.  What do you think this excerpt says about Matt?

 Matt patted old Mrs. Watson on the arm. “I’m sorry for the confusion, ma’am.”

Bristling with indignation, the woman nodded her head.  “See to it that it doesn’t happen again.”

As she stalked away, the red-faced cashier blurted out. “I wasn’t wrong.”

“I know it, but she’s old. Make a note of the amount, and I’ll put it in the register.” He winked at the cashier who no longer looked upset.

He smiled when he turned around and saw Sam Dickson watching him. “Coffee in my office?”

“Well, we aren’t going to drink it in the produce section are we?” Sam quipped.

 He’s kind to old ladies?  This is a nice guy!  A keeper!

If you're interested in A New Dream, you can get it at http://www.amazon.com/Rest-Thy-Head-Elaine-Cantrell-ebook/dp/B00NTAXTOC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439259054&sr=8-1&keywords=rest+thy+head

Year of Living Blonde

YEAR OF LIVING BLONDE

by Andrea Simonne

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

A funny and sizzling romp about discovering your inner pin-up girl...

Plain-Jane bakery owner Natalie Anderson has always followed the recipe for a safe life. When her husband dumps her for a seductive older woman, it’s time to throw out that recipe and start from scratch. She cooks up a plan to transform herself from mousy brown to sexy blonde. Meanwhile, she’s trying to expand her Seattle bakery, La Dolce Vita, but runs into an obstacle in the form of her irritatingly handsome landlord.

Astronomer Anthony Novello’s good looks and charm usually guarantees him a free pass with women, though that’s not the case with his new tenant, Natalie. Plain, plump, and persnickety—he’s never met a woman more annoying. But when Anthony returns from a telescope observing run, he makes a discovery of the non-celestial kind. Natalie has changed. He’s amazed to find himself attracted to her. Sparks fly as he tries to convince her there’s more to him than meets the eye.

However, when Natalie’s ex-husband decides to win her back, she’s forced to choose. Is her year of living blonde over? Or is this the start of a new and much sweeter life….

EXCERPT:

Natalie glances at the clock. It’s almost ten. Kind of late for visitors. Pausing the television, she goes over and peeks cautiously through the front window.

A bolt of lightning streaks through her.

Anthony is standing on her front porch. He’s wearing his motorcycle jacket and holding his black helmet at his side. The big bad wolf at her door.

What’s he doing here?

She glances at herself in the hall mirror. No makeup and her hair a mess. Great.

He rings the bell again and she marches over, ready to take the offensive. Ready to tell him to go away. But when Natalie yanks open the door and sees the expression on his face, she hesitates.

“What’s wrong?” she asks finally.

He takes his time with his reply. “I needed to see you tonight.”

“Did something happen?”

“It’s a long story.” He smiles, but there isn’t much humor in it.

She’s never seen Anthony like this before. He never looks anything less than perfect, but there’s strain on his face and around his eyes, and she suspects this is the real man

He takes a step toward her, lowering his voice. “Let me in, Natalie.”

Standing broad-shouldered and solemn in her doorway, he’s an imposing figure, but she isn’t afraid. Despite the fiasco with the bakery, she realizes she still trusts him.

Without a word, she steps out of the way to let him come inside.

The door closes and she walks back into the living room. There’s a sound and she sees that Anthony has dropped his motorcycle helmet on a chair.

“This is a bad idea,” Natalie tells him. “I don’t know why you came here. I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”

“I think you know exactly why I’m here.” His voice is low as it vibrates through the room.

There’s an erotic thrill at his words. “How can I be with you after what happened?”

“Because this isn’t about any of that.” For a moment, his eyes darken with regret, but then turn heated. “Whatever happens next is between you and me.”

Natalie shakes her head, but Anthony moves closer until he’s in right in front of her. She feels his hand on her cheek as the other cradles her head, gently holding her still. “Don’t,” he says, his tone imploring. “Don’t say no. Tell me to stay.” 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Andrea Simonne grew up as an army brat and discovered she had a talent for creating personas at each new school. The most memorable was a surfer chick named "Ace" who never touched a surf board in her life, but had an impressive collection of puka shell necklaces. Eventually she turned her imagination towards writing. Andrea still enjoys creating personas, though these days they occupy her books. She currently makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons.

You can find Andrea at:

Website: http://www.andreasimonne.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AndreaSimonne

FB: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.simonne.author

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8557240.Andrea_Simonne

You can buy Year of Living Blonde at:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Year-Living-Blonde-Sweet-Seattle-ebook/dp/B00RO1Z6YI/

The author is giving away a $20 Amazon/B&N gift certificate. Use the rafflecopter link below to enter. You can find her tour schedule at http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2015/02/book-blast-year-of-living-blonde-by.html

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Four-Leaf Clover

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Charmaine will be awarding a copy of the book to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A sexy, sugar-laden David vs Goliath story about a local bakery, a national chain, and what really matters.

Clover Loveday has worked hard to get her café Four-Leaf Clover up and running, her ticket out of an increasingly alarming financial situation and her dream come true. When she literally falls off her ladder into the arms of national bakery chain Upper Crust owner, sexy-as-sin Liam Sinclair, who owns the new bakery being built just across the road, she decides that no matter how nauseated she is about the idea, it is best keep your enemy close, rather than leave things to fate.

Liam has never put too much thought into the competition when he opens a new outlet, other than taking their customers and strengthening the Upper Crust brand. But here in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges, Clover Loveday’s cafe is a little too close for comfort, and Clover Loveday a little too good-looking. So Liam asks his PA to put together a Fact Sheet about his new competition. He has a business to run, a father to please, and hundreds of people to keep in jobs. Surely information can keep an unwanted strong sexual pull at bay…

A sexy, caffeinated, satisfying story about unexpected temptations, forgiveness, and putting love before money.

Enjoy an excerpt:

‘I thought this might happen.’ The voice was bemused, and also very male. So deep and warm it clung to her bones. Which was absolutely ridiculous. She blinked away the spots and looked into a pair of striking eyes. What she thought was just light brown was now more sienna, with streaks of cinnamon spearing the inky iris. The eyes were keenly intelligent, and she felt as though she were under an intense spotlight. Maybe it was the way they didn’t flicker from her face, or that they held a sprinkling of disapproval, but his gaze also irritated her.

‘What sort of a man frightens a woman who’s up a ladder?’ She couldn’t help the words that tumbled out.

The eyes widened, his brows arching high. ‘Why was this woman up a ladder?’

‘A woman who needs to gets things done!’ She sounded more snappish than she wanted, but the amused way in which he watched her fuelled her aggravation.

His lips turned up slightly at the edges. ‘And how does this woman plan to get things done when she’s sprawled across the floor?’

‘I wasn’t about to sprawl across the floor, as you put it, until you barged through the door and yelled at me.’ She narrowed her eyes, trying to be her most severe, which she probably wasn’t doing a very good job of. Her friend, and now waitress, Holly said she was about as frightening as a wombat, even when she’d fully lost it. Which rarely happened. And it was this infuriating man’s fault she’d now lost her usual good humour.

‘I didn’t barge through the door, and I certainly didn’t yell at you. I was just trying to get you to be careful.’

‘What? By startling me so much I fell off the ladder?’

‘You shouldn’t have been up there, especially in boots like those.’ He indicated her boots with a tip of his head. She noticed how ruffled his hair was. Spiking in all directions, as though he’d just run his hands through it.

‘There’s nothing wrong with my boots.’ She’d got them at the Beggar’s Bazaar at the end of Main Street on a sale. Black leather cowboy boots, floral patterns imprinted into the leather and practical flat heels. She loved these boots the moment she’d seen them and after she’d finally plucked up the courage, and the savings, to buy them, she’d worn them just about every day since.

His eyes flowed from her ankles to her thighs. His gaze was as intimate as a touch and as though hypnotised, she watched his eyes travel to hers.

‘No. There’s not.’

About the Author:

I live in Upwey, a very leafy suburb of outer Melbourne. I can hear most Melbournians say, ‘Where?’ Think Puffing Billy, the hills and inexcusably steep driveways and you're there. We have a house with room for the kids to play in the backyard, the cat to sleep wherever and the husband to lounge on a bean-bag in front of the telly. I love romance because it adds so much to the story. Everyone needs a little love to take them away.

Facebook Learn more about Charmaine Ross at www.CharmaineRoss.com.

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